Animal House ‘No Mamma’

As I looked out the window this morning I noticed that in the gutter of the opposite building, were two white pigeons nesting. The female was nestled cosily in the drain whilst her partner kept a lookout for marauding kites and hungry house cats. It was a really beautiful moment to witness, and made me feel strangely hopeful after a difficult week. It reminded me of an artist I really like who creates comic strip panels with realistically drawn birds with big cartoon speech bubbles full of snide remarks and funny social commentary. One image that really resonated with me had this simple text superimposed over illustrations of trees in the changing seasons:

“If you listen carefully, you can hear the natural world talking to you. Can you hear it? It’s saying ‘Shhhh…don’t worry…you don’t matter'”

It’s true. It comforts me to know that in the grand scheme of things, I really don’t matter. That I am one of millions that have come before me, and that the everyday bullshit that feels so important is completely minute compared to the tides, the phases of the moon, the changing of the seasons, the wider natural world and universe as a whole. I spend a lot of time raging against the unfairness of it all – that we live in a world where children are being bombed in Syria, where the 1% own the majority of the world’s wealth, where grandparents and good dogs die of cancer. I want to spend less time doing this – I want to accept the way life is, and forgive the universe for all its perceived wrongs against me. Because at the end of the day, I am no more or less important than a chicken, or an ant, or a microbe; after all, we are all just tiny cogs in the nature machine trying to survive as best we can. Anyway, today I’m listening to ‘No Mamma’, the new single from Brighton-via-Australia band Animal House, who have been praised in the past for their catchy hooks and off kilter riffs. If you liked previous release ‘Coca Cola’, the new track will not disappoint; it’s laden with indie-tastic guitars and meandering riffs, joyfully buoyant bass lines, and insatiably addictive vocal refrains. Enjoy. And don’t take everything so seriously.

-Olivia